When dealing with dog-to-dog aggression, it is important to listen to our dog.
There are many reasons why a dog may act aggressively toward another.
- He may be afraid.
- He may be stressed because his space is being violated.
- He may feel the need to dominate.
- He may be protective of us.
- He may be very curious.
- He may just be over-excited.
Sometimes, what we perceive to be aggression may be the result of hyper energy, eagerness, or natural inquisitiveness. Therefore, in dog-to-dog aggression cases, it is important to understand what our dog is feeling, and what he is trying to say.
When my dog meets a new dog, I observe both of them carefully. As soon as my dog starts to get stressed, I step in and interrupt before the situation escalates.
For dog aggression issues, it is best to take a dog’s age, health, temperament, and preferences into account, while coming up with appropriate solutions.
1. Be Calm and Decisive
Dogs are very sensitive to what their human is feeling. My dog picks up on my emotions and reflects them, except with much more intensity. Sometimes, I am not even conscious of feeling nervous or stressed, but my dog notices it and starts to act up. Once I consciously calm myself down, his behavior also improves.
A common mistake when meeting other dogs is to tense up, and get fearful of what our dog may do. If we are afraid, our dog will pick up on that fearful energy, and that will likely trigger an aggressive reaction.
Be careful not to put undue or continuous tension on the leash. Also, do not pull the dog straight back, as that will likely cause a lunge forward response. To remove my dog, I pull him to the side and quickly walk him past the other dog.
2. Teach Our Dog Avoidance
When I see another dog, I usually just ignore him and move along.
I have found that avoidance is most effective when I avert my eyes from both dog, as well as owner. I keep my eyes forward, and keep walking at a natural pace. In this way, my dog learns that when we see other dogs, we avoid rather than confront.
Be careful not to crowd our dog while walking. If he feels trapped between us and the other dog, he may think he has no choice but to react aggressively. Do not stand still while trying to tug our dog away. Move away, and he will come along with us. At the same time, we are creating space so that he will not feel trapped.
I do not let my dog obsess or stare intensely at other dogs. Sometimes, my Shiba Inu will drop into a stalking-down-position, stare, and wait for the other dog to pass. Some people think that he is such a good boy for doing a Down, when other dogs are coming toward him, but he is actually just waiting to pounce.
Do not allow this bad behavior, do not let our dog practice it, do not even let him think about it. Just move him along, and ignore. If the other dog is somehow blocking us (e.g. if the owner is unable to control his dog), then walk away in a different direction. Do not stare the other dog down and do not confront him, either through posture or by physically engaging him.
Challenging unknown dogs is a good way to get bitten.
3. Create Space or Block the Other Dog
We can do this by moving across the road or into a driveway, and waiting for the other dog to pass.
We may also move our dog behind a barrier, for example a car. If there are no barriers available, we can try blocking the dog’s view with our body.
By doing this, we avoid a head-on, more confrontational passing.
I have tried all of these blocking techniques, but what works best for me is to create space, and quickly move past the other dog. Whenever I wait for the other dog to pass, my Shiba uses that time to start obsessing.
Dog treats and trying to get his attention do not work at this point, because the other dog is too close, and Shiba Sephy is no longer listening. The advantage of walking Sephy briskly past the other dog, is that he has less time to stare. In addition, he cannot fully obsess, because he must partly focus on walking.
However, using barriers and blocking may work better for a fearful dog.
Some trainers suggest turning and walking away when we see another dog, rather than passing him or waiting for him to pass.
There are two problems with this method:
- If we turn away, the other dog will be following us. This may cause some dogs to keep looking back, to make sure that the follower is not a threat. I have tried this, and indeed my Shiba keeps looking back.
- If we keep turning away, we may meet other dogs and get boxed in; especially if there are many dogs in our neighborhood.
4. Create Neutral Experiences
I try to create as many neutral dog-to-dog meeting experiences as possible. If every time my dog sees another dog, we just pass by and nothing interesting happens, it will become a non-event.
Being consistent with neutral greetings will build our dog’s confidence. Through repetition, we are teaching him how to behave (just avoid and move along), and how not to behave (get over-excited, frustrated, lunge, and pull). He will be more calm because he is not waiting in anticipation of a highly charged encounter, either for play or for confrontation.
I try to set my dog up for success, and do not let him practice aggressive behaviors when meeting other dogs. The more he practices, the more aggressive he will be.
If my dog becomes agitated during a walk, I try to end the outing as soon as possible. Once in this mode, his adrenaline levels will be high for a fair duration, and he will likely react aggressively to all the dogs that we meet. In this state, he will no longer be capable of learning, and will only be practicing dog aggressive behaviors.
5. Protect our Dog
I usually keep my dog away from people and dogs with weak energy (e.g. fearful, excited, or frustrated energy). In addition, I also try to keep other dogs and owners from coming into my dog’s space. I say a quick ‘hi’ to the people I meet, and move on.
If people with weak energy stop and want to meet my dog, I ask them nicely to please move on, because my dog is easily excitable.
It is fine and good to let a dog meet people with calm energy, but make sure to let them know how to best meet our dog. In particular, turn away when he jumps, no quick movements, and no petting from above.
6. Keep Greetings Short and Sweet
While greeting another dog, we want to positively interrupt our dog every so often, and get him to refocus on us. Do this as many times as necessary, so that our dog does not get over-excited, and lose control of himself.
Whenever my dog is meeting a new dog, I interrupt him after a very short duration (2-3 seconds). I quickly move or jog away from the other dog, while giving the positive interrupt command, e.g. Hey, hey. Initially, I may have to lightly tug at my dog while moving away. I make sure to treat him well for moving toward me on a loose leash.
If our dog is too obsessed to move away and is strongly standing his ground, then we have waited too long to initiate the interrupt. Positive interrupts are also useful for dealing with human greetings, and getting our dog away from a dirty or unsuitable area.
The key to successful positive interrupts is to catch a dog early, before he starts to obsess on another dog or object.
7. Be Aware of Aggressive Triggers
Some dogs, for example Spitz-type dogs, have a natural look that may appear dominant (ears up, hair out, tail up). This dominant look may instigate other dogs to respond in kind, and start posturing as well. Conflicts may occur, and if neither dog is willing to back down, this may lead to a dog fight.
If I am unsure about a dog greeting, I just move on. Better to be safe than sorry.
8. Desensitize our Dog to Other Dogs
The problem with dog-to-dog aggression issues, is that in regular situations the “other dog” stimulus is too strong, and environment is too unstructured for any learning to occur. Often, our dog overloads quickly and becomes reactive, because the other dog is too close, is staring, is hyper, or is charging toward us.
In the desensitization process, we do training in a quiet, enclosed environment, and start with a very weak version of the problem stimulus. In terms of reactivity toward other dogs, we can use distance to weaken its effect.
In this way, we also weaken the strength of our dog’s reaction, so that he will be calm enough to listen and learn. This is necessary, to create opportunities where we can begin to teach our dog to be calm and relaxed, while in the presence of another dog.
I did quite a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization sessions with Sephy, when he was young, at our local SPCA. The trainers there had many balanced, friendly dogs, that we could do training with.
First, the trainer would engage the other dog in training exercises, so that he stays in a fixed position, and is not focused on Sephy (i.e., no eye-contact). Both dogs are on-leash.
I take Sephy a far distance away, far enough away that he is still calm and able to listen to me. Then, I get his attention by calling his name. If he looks at me, I praise, and treat him for behaving well. Sometimes, I also ask him to do very simple commands, e.g. Sit.
I let Sephy sit and watch the other dog as long as he is calm, and willing to give me his attention when I ask for it. Once we are both comfortable with this, I move one step toward the other dog and repeat the Focus and Sit exercises above.
Do not move too close to the other dog, too quickly. If we move forward too fast, our dog may become reactive, and will no longer be able to give us his attention. At this point, I no-mark Sephy (uh-oh) and move back a few steps. Once we are far enough away, I try to get his attention again. When he gives it to me, I stop, praise, and treat.
Note – for desensitization to be successful, we want to keep our dog below his instinct threshold as much as possible.
I always try to make sessions short, fun, and rewarding. This helps our dog associate other dogs with being calm, and with positive experiences. I make sure to stop before my dog shows any obsessive behavior, and long before he becomes aggressive. Once a dog becomes reactive or aggressive, it is usually best to end the session soon after.
As we make progress, we can slowly increase the strength of the problem stimulus. For example, we may allow the target dog to start moving around, or we may allow him to play with his handler.
The desensitization process can be long and difficult. Dogs with lower instinct thresholds (the point at which they lose control and switch to instinct) will be harder to desensitize. However, consistent practice will also help to raise this threshold.
What to Expect from Dog-to-Dog Aggression Training
Do not expect too much, too quickly, from our dog. Make sure to treat and praise him very well, if he voluntarily engages in avoidance maneuvers, when there are other dogs around. This includes looking away from the direction of the other dog, smelling and exploring the environment, or looking at us for direction.
Initially, treat and praise even small avoidance moves, for example looking away for just 1 second. If a dog will not accept treats from us, then he is too far gone and it is best to lead him away. Treats are only effective for shaping behavior when our dog is still thinking, and not operating on instinct.
If we keep practicing desensitization exercises, and teach our dog how to behave with other dogs, he will improve. As he matures, he will become more confident, be less dog aggressive, and be more comfortable around new experiences.
For aggression issues between two family dogs, here is more on how I help my dogs get along.
After relocating to another state, my dog (Kitty) has become aggressive with other dogs whenever a ball is in play. If the ball is thrown, she rushes to it, sometimes snapping at dogs along the way. She gets the ball and will attack the dog coming toward her to encourage more play, or even just passing by. She has even stopped playing if she finds a ball, obsessing the say way…
Kitty is almost 3 yrs. old and was practically raised in a dog park in her home state. Any ideas on how to resolve her issue?
This message is for Amber Roelofs who posted on
December 4, 2015 at 3:08 am.
Sweetheart if your dog is in a very small house and on a leash all of the time, he is very, very sad and this is no way for a dog to live. When he is let out, he has so much energy that he doesn’t know how to act properly. A dog needs exercise every day in the morning and evening. Plus he knows he will have to go back into the small house which he hates, so he may try to bite you or people who put him back. Is there anyone you trust who could take him to a shelter?
Great post Megan 🙂
I have an 8 year old ”pitbull” with dog to dog aggression. I own him since he is 20weeks, never had him professionally trained, i never mistreated him, did not have him ”fixed”(i hate that term). He grew up with one of his brothers and sadly they were separated at 1year of age. My dog broke his left leg at 1 year of age, the vet performed a surgery. at 3 years of age my dog was illegally taken from my house and was later in custody of the SPCA. the spca refused to return my dog unless he was fixed, i had to accept under threat that they’d give the dog to another human who would accept and pay to have him operated 🙁 ever since his stay at the spca, my dog attacks other dogs, visciouly. he has attacked about 12 dogs, none were seriously injured. i had to put myself in the line of fire, sticking my hands in my dogs mouth. because my dog really does not want to bite humans, in fact if a human puts his hands in his mouth, the dog will turn his head away attempting to get away. if a human says ”ouch” my dog immediately lowers himself submissively and comes and licks u all over. i can’t take my dog to parcs anymore because people are affraid of him. my dog has few dog-friends, but only rdogs with really good energy can handle my dogs behaviour. Say my friend brings his dog over to my house or we go together to the park, this is what will probably happen: leech-on, we let them sniff eachother. normally my dog will immediately try to bite and show aggressiveness. i get in my dogs face(to get his attention) and once i get his attention i calmly pet him and bring him back to his happy state and i say NO! be a good boy! he normally calms down, then we go for a walk to get better relationship. when we let them off the leech to play together, usually they will play until they have a staredown and fight. sometimes the fight is not too bad and they continue playing after. sometimes we end it there. if we pull out a ball, they will for sure fight for it. My wife is expecting a baby, we love our dog, but unless this behaviour is corrected we are considering the hardest decision ever. I can’T even say the words 🙁
I’m very sorry to hear about the disgusting spca forcing you to fix your dog, the same happened to me. I tried every excuse, but they were firm on having me get my dog neutered-he was 4 years old. He stayed in the shelter system for 3 months. After I got him back his fur was dry, he had yeast develop on his paws and lower lip area; it was horrible. I suspect he didn’t get enough water and may have been neglected in the heat of summer. I became homeless that summer that’s why he stayed at the shelter. I even asked them if when he was getting neutered if I could be allowed to hold his paw; it was very emotional for me and they flatly said “No”, with no empathy. That was the biggest mistake in my life and I always regret it. I saw those tramps with their dogs in parks while I was homeless and could have had done the same. He changed so much now after I again, lost my home last year but this time instead of taking him to a shelter, I took him back to the breeder which has been my friend since I first purchased my dog from her. With patience and desensitizing, there’s hope! Please don’t give up on your dog. It took 3 years for my dog to forget about whatever the nasty shelter system did to him. After the shelter, he also for some strange unexplained reason-and he never had this problem- would try to bite me if I nestled my face near his belly or kissed his belly- which he used to love. 🙁 He now after 3 years and after getting him back from the breeder this month, has returned to his cuddly self again and I could tickle and kiss his belly and even attempt to clip his nails with him not trying to bite. He has changed so much and I have been taking him to day care with me-my job! which is great to have the privilege to bring my dog to work with me. He at the beginning had intense trust issues: growling and trying to bite the other dogs who simply wanted to get to know him. He got in a bit fight the second time I brought him in, but I never gave up and he has since been desensitized to the point where he sits near other dogs. He still growls if dogs get too close, but with patience, he’s gone a long way and I know he’ll wean out of his aggression and trust issues. I’m waiting for him to get more comfortable around other dogs. I’m hopeful you can fix your problem. Puppies have incredible memory. My dog looked at me and his breeder when I went to visit as in saying, “I remember this place”. This is a sign that perhaps if you return to where your dog was born, the breeder could help for a while with his behavior. I think this worked for me. I hope it may be something you’re willing to try!
I have an Australian Shepherd named Coco, I have had her since she was about 1 1/5 years old, previous owners gave her up. ( Don’t know the reason) She is now 2 1/5 . She has always been sweet , loving curious about other dogs but when I took her to dog park she seemed intimidated by large dogs her size. My daughter has 2 pugs one is very old , 16, and then a young one who is 3-4 years old The young one Rosie is Very aggressive towards all dogs (except for the old pug ). When I have visited my daughters house or vice versa we always have had to separate our dogs , but 2 weeks ago my dog and Rosie ended up in the same bedroom, I entered the room and huge fight broke out , Rosie attacked first and my dog reacted very violently back, while trying to get them apart my right hand got bit and one finger was broken as well. 2 days later my dog showed violence against a dog she has known for 1 year and is very familiar with ( I pet sit for a living) This is now a huge problem , what do I do ? I love my dog but I am scared of how much she has changed, can I ever get back my sweet loving dog???
Hi! It’ll take time for Coco to return to her old self. In fact, she may never be the same, but a milder and well, more experienced Coco. This happened to my dog where a pack of chihuahuas from my ex-roommate at the time, became territorial in the back yard. The male attacked my dog while I was busy- I didn’t see her coming in with her dogs- and her hand got bit leaving her pinky finger broken. After this happened, I thought everything was the same; thought I could proceed in walking my dog and taking him to an off leash sculptor dog run park in the neighborhood, but I was wrong. He attempted to bite another dog and mounted him nearly biting his neck before I stopped him. He also was aggressively growling at one particular dog to the point where his eyes were blood shot. I started to cry so hard and knew the previous backyard incident traumatized him and he became extremely defensive to other dogs. Dogs suffer from trauma from intense bad experiences. He has never returned to his innocent, naive and sweet puppy self and is now 8 years old. Many other things had happened since where his behavior has been affected that if measured, seems like a wild roller coaster ride in his life. He has returned to his sweet self, but he has trust issues with other dogs. I’ve been desensitizing him at my job as a dog handler at dog daycare and he has improved. But I learned, dogs suffer from scarring from traumatic experiences that change them. The one thing that is certain is, they’re are still loyal to you and love you; want to please you regardless of the changes they go through. It may take time for your Coco to desensitize from the trauma. I will say, it took my dog 3 years to recover from the trauma, which he became docile again. But I did also have a bad shelter experience where he came back traumatized; growling at other dogs on leash, but he is weaning off the aggression with my patience; allowing him freely to defend himself but openly correcting him to defend himself without allowing to bite other dogs- this conditions him to communicate with other dogs to stay away and not attack or bite instead. It’s working so far! He can now be around other dogs without me looking over my shoulder all the time. We use water in a spray bottle to correct behavior; works fast and effectively for my dog and many at the daycare.
Five years ago we adopted a dog who had been tied up outside for most of his life. He is a mixed breed, Border Collie, Dalmatian, Samoyed, and so on. He is a big boy, tall, and weighing about 67 pounds. He is truly a wonderful dog and adapted to his new home quickly. A few months later we adopted another dog, a female, who was older and smaller (an American Eskimo-Chow-Unknown mix). The younger male tried to do the dominance-mounting thing with the new female dog, and she turned around and snarled at him. That was it! From then on they were pals, and he deferred to her. Sadly, our older dog recently passed away. We, and the other dog are grieving over losing our sweet girl. We thought maybe it would be good to rescue another dog, and it might make our other dog happy to have a new companion. So far we have meet two female dogs with bad results. The first dog was sort of aggressive, and that did not work out, because our dog wanted to fight her. The second dog was smaller, and seemed quite sweet. The people who are trying to find her a home brought her here. We met them on the sidewalk, let the dogs have a brief meet, and proceeded to take them for a walk. Then we brought them back to our fenced yard and let them go. At first it looked like they were going to play, then they got into it. We had to pull them apart. I don’t know what is going on with my dog. I am wondering if he is now confused over the death of his female companion, who was the “Alpha” of the two. Or I am going about introducing them the wrong way? Or was it just that these were the “wrong” dogs for him? Or will we now be a one-dog home? Some folks suggested we get a puppy instead of a grown dog, but I am not so sure. Ideally, I would like to adopt an older female rescue dog. Any suggestions as to how I might handle this situation better? Thank you!
My dog seems to have a problem with other dogs and food guarding, i read your article on the food guarding so i can probably skip that but my dog seems to be guarding my girlfriend and I. When my other dogs are around he freezes and growls and stares at them no matter what room we are in. I don’t know how to solve this I’ve tried getting up and walking away and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t.. As of now for the past year anywhere in the house, i will corral all the other dogs into a room while the dog that has problems roams the house and vice versa.. The potential for a fight is enormous especially when its in close quarters like any room in the house. It still happens in the backyard but its easier for the other dogs to get away if he tries to do anything.. what do i do?
my dog has also lost both his top canine teeth and has many cuts already, they’ve gotten into so many fights already and so much blood has been shed and im afraid for it to get any further because they are really trying to kill each other and if i can’t find a way to solve this behavior i’m going to have to give him away which i REALLY REALLY don’t want to but for his safety and my other dogs safety it’s the only thing i can think of doing.
Hello, my names amber and i have a dod his name’s bruno and he lives at my grandma’s house hea not that young and not that old but all the years hes been living at my grandma’s he’s been in a tiny house where he can only take 1 or 2 sreps and he has a leash he’s always lockes up there and he cry’s so much when hea locked up but when we let him free in the garden he turns really agressive and jumps to my neihbours house and they’ve already complained what im trying to say is that i want my dog to be happy but when i let him free he’s capable of biting me and when he’s locked up he’s sad what do you think us the best way to let him free but that he’s not agressive that people can come and he wouldn’t bite or bark. If you know a way please help me , thanks xoxo
About a year ago, my sterilized cute medium-size male non aggressive dogs (cross between a Pincer and a Maltese) met and started interacting with a very aggressive female dog in the neighborhood. At first, the interaction between the dogs not terrible. The huge black female dog demanded that my dogs not move a muscle while she sniffed them and then she would let them walk around the park. If they dared to move or make any sound, she would start to growl and then put them in their place. Then gradually, she stated getting more and more aggressive with every interaction. Now, if she spots our dogs, even if they are very far away, she will come running from a very long distance away, and ‘attack them both’: Once she arrives at where they are, she just puts them on their backs, starting with the youngest of the two dogs. I don’t think her intent is to harm him in any way, otherwise she would have done it by now. One time the eldest dog was hurt on his ear ever so slightly. Is she going to try to kill my dogs? What should I do?
I don’t know if this is a forum thing or not, anyway… My dog is fine with other dogs off the lead on the beach – except for one – which she goes for. Any suggestions?
I’d love to hear of suggestions as well.. I have been fostering a black lab, for 4 months…. he gets along with my cat an pitbull.. we’ve been to dog parks – every other day…. Yesterday he went after another dog unprovoked…. has me scared—
As much as I like him… ??? I’m not sure how to find him a home if I don’t know what his triggers are…. If he ever hurt a child… or I just couldn’t live with my self……
any ideas…. I’m gonna check into collars — no more dog parks… he is very strong an hard to walk….. as Judge Judy states —- you should always be in control of your pet……
I no longer feel in control ……
Hello!
Thanks for this great website. Its been a really interesting read, and I hope I can apply this to my own dog, Konrad, who is a Norwegian Buhund, which in some ways is very similar to the Shiba Inu. He is 2,5 years old now, and as a puppy I spend a lot of time with training, and socializing him, but already when he turned around 3 months old he started being aggressive towards other dogs, which ended in so many fights – luckily nothing ever happened, so slowly I got afraid of letting him be around other dogs. Now he is ONLY around my family dogs,, but he doesn’t always behave around them either. If I am not over him all the time when Im at my mothers place he might attack or try to herd my mother’s dog around (he is a king charles chavalie). If I tell him to stop, he stops, but you can see how he is always trying to find a way to dominate my mothers dog. Worst is when there’s food on our table – they can fine eat next to each other, but when we eat my dog wants the best spot for “food” – because my mother feeds her own dog by the table it affects my dog. So I always put my dog in another room, which can lead to him peeing in someone bed – maybe my mothers bed or something like that. I’ve tried to find explanations to this, but all I’ve found is he might be scared? Yet he seems calm in there.
He also has a very jealous personallity. So if I pet my mothers dog he might get mad at my mothers dog. We have somewhat come around that problem, yet it still pops up once in awhile. The main problem is really he wants to herd him around and decide where he goes.
My main problem is when we meet other dogs he either barks very aggressively and hang at the end of his leach, where i just try and move on, and try to calm him down (all depending on HOW close he is to the other dog ofc) it works sometimes. OR he will whine, with a very playfull tone, but if I bring him closer it might change to aggression. My main thought is other dogs might stress him out. He has always been dominate towards other dogs, and Im not sure if he is trying to tell them to stay away, or what it is. I just quickly remove him from the situation, or try to aviod it, by moving around, so he just sees the other dog, but might not come with a reaction.
I know this is a mouthfull, because I tried to explain my little boy. He is a VERY lovling dog towards humans – around children he is VERY respectfull and reacts when my niece on 3 says no. So its really just around other dogs the main problem is. Thanks for reading this, and again really a great webpage!
Very well written and hopefully I can apply the things I have read. I am dealing with an issue in my home with aggression as well and not sure how to stop it. My husband and I have 3 dogs, Jack Russel who is 9 and two Dachshunds who are 7 and 4. The 7 year old Dachshunds has recently become very aggressive towards the other two dogs mainly the Jack Russel at which times the fights have been extremely bad. Most of the fights tend to happen in the middle of the night when she is disturbed from her sleep. We are currently considering crating her at night due to the aggressive tendencies however I am not a huge crate fan for my animals. Is there anything I can do to prevent these fights from happening besides crating my dog? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Did her aggressive behavior occur suddenly or develop gradually? Is she eating and drinking normally? Is she keeping to her regular routine and moving around normally? Has the 7 year old been to the vet lately? Physical pain or other physical issues may cause dogs to feel more vulnerable, and may result in sudden aggressive behavior. Did anything unusual occur around the time when this behavior started?
I use enclosures to separate my dogs when necessary. If I put it next to a wall for support, I can combine multiple enclosures together to create a big, safe, space.
When Shania was healing from amputation, we set up a big enclosure for her.
Example of what Shania’s enclosure looks like.
However, there is nothing wrong with a crate as long as the dog is properly desensitized to it, and sees it as a safe and positive space. I use crates for car rides, and my dogs will often go into their crates when they want to eat their chews in peace. When used properly, they are a great management and safety tool.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-potty-training-facts-and-myths#crate
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/weekend-crate-training
I do not leave my dogs alone together unsupervised, until I am very sure that there will absolutely be no issues.